Edible forest landscapes are life filled places that not only provide food for humans, they are habitats for wildlife, carbon sequestering, biodiversity, natural soil building gardens of fruit and nuts, perennial and annual veggies and flowers. These many-layered gardens are beautiful, resilient and self-renewing. With the emphasis on the whole system as an interrelated organism, interconnectedness is the key to a healthy, dynamic garden. Let nature be the model we use to design landscape.
The edible food forest vision is to maintain the benefits of a natural ecosystem while increasing the amount of food produced aiming towards sustainability, productivity and low maintenance. To contribute to the stability, self-fertilizing and self-renewing nature of food forests, biodiversity is essential to the strength, resilience and longevity of the system. The careful inclusion of plants that increase fertility such as nitrogen fixers and the use of dynamic accumulators (deep rooting plants which tap mineral sources deep in the sub-soil and raise them up to the topsoil where they can become available to the other plants) contribute to this sustainability. Using plants specifically chosen to attract predators of common pests and to provide bee forage increases the stability of the food forest. Chose pest and disease resistant plant varieties. Tree canopy cover and leaf litter improve drought resistance and add to the nutrient cycling. Creating habitat nooks adds more dimensions to the food forest maintenance crew. The greater the diversity, the healthier the foundation and the less competition for resources.
The architectural structure of a food forest uses the primary aspects of different niches, the life strategies of plants and how they partition resources above and below ground. Aiming for the most beneficial stacking of plants, use of canopy trees, small trees and large shrubs, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, ground covers, climbers and vines and the root zone facilitates the best use of space. Each of these layers contributes to the multiple species interaction, forming the food web that regulate and distributes energy and nutrients. Each species express inherent characteristics and form the basis of all interaction between itself and surrounding species. Resource sharing and mutual support stabilizes and binds community together.
The big trick is habitat mimicry. No one takes care of your favorite place in nature!
Perennials are the place to start. Chose a central element (fruit tree) and build a network of mutual support plants around it. Within this layering network of plants choose those which fix nitrogen, suppress weeds, accumulate minerals, attract insects and birds, attract predatory insects, mulch plants, repel pests, plus those that act as fortress plants and habitat plants.
Mimicking nature on the home level can transform landscape to sustain and feed humans for a long-term biologically sustainable system that once established needs little work to maintain. Plants acting in mutual support can withstand extremes and the onslaughts better that isolated species.
The major drawback is the planting and establishment requires large numbers of plants and alot of work. (Plant the trees and shrubs, and then start the understory from seed.)
For a full list of plants and plant groupings and resources for a Salida Food Forest See the charts and articles on this site.
